Here is a company that believes in marketing expensive products to establish its ‘premium’ brand, particularly among those Indians who don’t really mind paying higher prices for their sheer love for ‘Made in India’ products.

Mad(e) in India, a Mumbai-based luxury start-up premium lifestyle brand, says its products reflect ‘Indian-ness’. “Our prices are 10-15 per cent higher than comparable products of other companies. But that is how we are carving out a niche for ourselves,” Pankaj Acharya, Founder and CEO, told BusinessLine, explaining the logic behind deliberately keeping the prices of his products higher than normal ones, which it sees as its USP.

Interestingly, Mad(e) In India started as a Facebook blog in March 2010, which talked about India and being an Indian. In January 2013, it was formally launched to offer lifestyle products and accessories that depicted India in all its vividness.

“We currently have a 3-4 per cent market share in our categories and have already broken even. We have invested Rs 3.25 crore so far and plan to invest another Rs 12 crore in the next three years from our own resources as we look at a Rs 100-crore global Indian lifestyle brand in five year’s time,” Acharya, 43, an 18-year veteran in advertising and marketing, said.

Ranging from serving trays inspired by ‘cutting chai’, shot glasses inspired by the Madhubani art of Bihar, wall-clocks inspired by the charkha, cushion covers by the colourful Garba dance, or mobile phone covers and visiting card holders with sacred symbols of various religions, the brand offers a range of products in 37 segments/product lines. More such products are in the pipeline, he said.

Acharya said although Mad(e) in India is a product aggregator, it has also lined up vendors and contract manufacturers for its brands, particularly in categories such as souvenirs, gifts, and lifestyle products. Its major immediate competitors are Chumbak, India Circus, and The Elephant Company.

The Mad(e) In India brand operates on a hybrid business model, on both online and offline platforms. The premium brand has three of its own stores, a presence across 19 multi-brand outlets, and at India’s major international airports through Lotus House. In Singapore, the brand is present at the India Heritage Board. After Singapore, the brand plans to expand and will soon launch in multiple locations — Dubai being the next in line.

He said Mad(e) In India has not customised the products in keeping with the country’s taste, unlike many commercialised brands, but has kept the Indianness in its products intact with no compromise in quality. Online, its products are on all the major e-commerce platforms.

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